10 best surf towns in the U.S.

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 8 June, 2009 : - - San Juan Capistrano, Ca -- In its July 2009 Issue, on newsstands now, SURFER Magazine ranks the Top Ten Surf Towns in America. From the famous to the obscure, the urban to the rustic; locales from around the country were considered, debated, and disqualified until only the best remained.

For a town to make the list, criteria included quality of life, variety and quality of surf, climate, cost of living, access to culture, availability of work, and even prevalence of sharks. Boiling the thousands of miles of U.S. coastline down into a select group of towns wasn’t easy, according to SURFER editors.

“List-making of this sort is a bit of a lose-lose proposition,” says Editor in Chief Joel Patterson. “Some surfers will feel their town should have made the list, while others will grimace with the thought of a sudden influx of visitors in their local lineups. But we wanted to celebrate America’s surf meccas, and motivate our readers to expand their horizons this summer.”

Ultimately, the list accounts for styles, tastes, and preferences of all types illuminating the true variety of surf available to surfers in America. Taking the coveted number one spot is Santa Cruz, California, the real Surf City U.S.A., with its year-round surfable, if chilly, conditions and cultural melding pot of educators, artists, life long surfers and everyone else in between.

THE COMPLETE LIST:
1. Santa Cruz, CA - go to Big Sur or north of SF
2. Haleiwa, HI - okay, gateway to the north shore
3. Encinitas, CA - nice little surf town
4. Paia, HI
5. San Clemente, CA - you must be kidding! Huntington Beach chic
6. Kill Devil Hills, NC - my pick would be Buxton
7. Malibu, CA - polluted longboard break, go north young man!
8. Montauk, NY - at the end of the world, nice but certainly no mecca
9. New Smyrna Beach, FL - Satellite Beach baby!
10. Ocean City, NJ - compared to the "other" Ocean City??? lol.

"Surf Meccas" kind of sums it up. Quite frankly, only Haleiwa hits my list as a surf mecca. The other criteria is a bit subjective and loaded - how does Haleiwa and Kill Devil Hills not disqualify on the access to culture and livelihood criteria?

 

Says the sponger from ....... Baltimore? Its a surfing magazine, for surfers. Riding a childs toy disqualifies you from the critique.

 

Ha Ha... glad you find a solid bond between Surfer Magazine and yourself!!!

P.S. No sponger am I.

 

You're kidding me, right? Oh, because it's located in the southern most part of Orange County? Have you ever even been there? Because San Clemente is the one of the most laid back beach towns around. No, I don't live there. I live in Ventura (Ventucky). I have lots of buddies who live there and I have spent many a day hanging out/surfing/drinking/bsing in that town and for somebody to call it HB chic then I am going to call BULLS*T on you.
Great surfing, cool vibes, mellow night life (all local bars and taverns), a decent little golf course, and a nice place to raise a family. Oh, and it's known for having a decent surf spot or two. You maybe heard of them?

Oh, and Santa Cruz? Really? You're too cool for that area as well, eh?

At least you were right about Encinitas.


Man, the way you talk, I hope you can friggin rip.

 

It is clear that established "surfing capitals" is an important criterion. What else is new?

Ocean Beach (San Diego) wasn't on the list. It meets all the stated criteria in spades. I'd take it over San Clemente any day. Pick any number of northern Oregon beach towns... or even Portland, OR, for that matter.

P.S. Can you name a few San Clemente beach breaks? The readers may not be familiar with them. BTW, what *is* a surf town?

 

Uh... if I need to name a surf break in San Clemente then they are not surfers. Jeeze, one of the most famous breaks in the world. C'mon man. By far one of the most well known in Southern California. When people talk about surfing Southern California there are three well known breaks that everybody and their brother know of. One of those is in San Clemente.

Do I really need to explain to you what a "surf town" is? Do you surf? Have you traveled?
Please dont insult both of us with semantics, we both know what a "beach town" is.

Ocean Beach in SD was my home for a decade (the 90's). I would never dare say that it is one of the top ten beach/surf towns. Too many downsides to that place. It has a very dark underbelly to it that the tourist never see.

No, San Clemente deserves to be on that list. kinda. I mean, I can think of a few towns in Central California that could equal the vibe of San Clemente. But then the warm water of San Clemente trumps it. It was a good town to have on that list.

I will let you guys on the east coast debate the other spots, you guys I would assume are way more familiar with them than I.

 

Uhhh, do you mean like all that noise to "Save Trestles" and the Old Man's San Onofre breaks? Humor me!

What *is* a surf town? The criteria used in the Surfer Mag article don't seem to pin that down very well or consistently. Why isn't Ocean Beach a great surf town? It is near an employment base, culture, lot's of surf, good bars, restaurants and coffee shops and has plenty of decent surf shops like the Green Room, home of now infamous Toby Pavel. And it surely isn't driving California to the brink of bankruptcy as communities such as San Clemente and Laguna are doing. Just don't step on a needle during DP!

P.S. As you can tell I have not traveled!

 

Yeah your not a sponger. Did someone in San Clemente call you names when you showed up with one of those ancient wooden bodyboards at Trestles or something?

 

your image isnt showing.

 

Yeah... that must have been it!

What are YOUR top surf towns in the USA and why and why not?

 

Well Baltimore would have to be on there. Inner Harbor on a high tide, a Ski-Nautique and a Paipo. What could be better? And apparently the surf community there is legendary. Also Sheboygan, WI and Deluth, MN are underated as well. Stony Point is a Paipo riders wet dream.

 

You're the expert!!! Nothing like an 11' longboard with a Sheyboygan steamer. Nice nomination